Oil rebounds as bitcoin and AI stocks retreat
Thursday's Chain, Crude & Chips: higher crude settlements, bitcoin below $76,000 and an AI-led stock selloff.
Oil recovered at settlement on Thursday, while bitcoin and AI-linked stocks fell. The moves reversed parts of Wednesday's post-election relief without resolving the underlying uncertainty over supply, policy and future investment.
Crude: settlements rebound
WTI settled at $90.52 a barrel, up 2.72%. Brent settled at $98.29, up 3.88%. Supply concerns returned as tanker attacks complicated the outlook for oil flows in the Middle East. A rebound in futures is not evidence that either a new escalation or a peace agreement is certain.
Both benchmarks had fallen more than 8% on Wednesday. Thursday's settlements replace earlier intraday quotes, not the historical record in Wednesday's closing report.
Chain: bitcoin slips below $76,000
Bitcoin dropped below $76,000 during the session alongside a broad retreat in risk assets. At 4:10 PM ET, CoinDesk reported it just below $76,000, down about 5.2% over 24 hours. This is a dated price snapshot, not a closing quote. Bitcoin continues trading after U.S. stocks close.
Chips: the AI trade leads the retreat
Chipmakers and data-center operators fell as investors reassessed AI infrastructure spending and the possibility of greater scrutiny after the election. Nvidia and other major semiconductor shares declined; large technology platforms also fell. Investor fears about future restrictions are not the same as enacted policy.
The Nasdaq Composite closed down 5.52% and finished more than 10% below its record closing high, meeting the usual definition of a correction. Today's Dusk Ledger has the final index table and Friday's scheduled jobs-report test.
